Heineken Ireland is reportedly in talks that may lead to the whole or partial acquistion of Irish drinks distribution firm Comans Wholesale.

Heineken Ireland refused to comment when contacted yesterday.

Comans Wholesale had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

It has been suggested that a full takeover of the company could cost around €25m.

Newstalk reported yesterday that the talks may have been triggered by the launch of Heineken's new cider, Orchard Thieves.

This is because one of Coman's distribution competitors, Gleesons, is owned by Irish drinks giant C&C group, who make rival cider Bulmers. Comans Wholesale employs about 130 people from its base near Tallaght in Dublin.

The company was established in 1959 and is mainly owned by Geoff and Tom Coman of the well-known Rathgar-based family of publicans.

It distributes a wide range of packaged beer, wines, spirits and soft drinks from all over the world including Dutch Gold and Druids Celtic Cider.

Recent financial figures are not available for Comans Wholesale.

The last set of accounts for the firm publicly available on the Companies Registrations Office, published in 2006, show that it had revenues of €84.4m.